Frequent Miler's latest team challenge, Million Mile Madness, is almost done! The last two weeks Greg, Nick, and Stephen competed to earn 1 Million SAS miles by flying 15 airlines. But who completed the challenge with the most Speed, Affordability, and Style?
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Uber recently came out with a deal to save up to 5% when you pre-load your Uber account with Uber Cash. That’s not an amazing deal since we see fairly regular promos for discounted Uber gift cards, but it’s a better deal than paying full price (as long as you make sure you choose to pay with your Uber Cash when requesting a ride – see below for more on that). The good news is that Greg confirmed that loading Uber Cash worked to trigger US Bank real-time mobile rewards and would therefore likely also trigger travel credits on the Chase Sapphire Reserve or Citi Prestige card.
The Deal
- Save up to 5% when you add Uber Cash funds to your Uber account in advance as follows:
- Get $100 in Uber Cash for $95 (5% off)
- Get $50 in Uber Cash for $48.50 (3% off)
- Get $25 in Uber Cash for $24.50 (2% off)
- Available via the “Payments” tab in your Uber app
- Direct link to promo page
Key Details
- Funds never expire and are good for both rides and Uber Eats orders
- Be sure to choose Uber Cash as your payment method when requesting a ride
Quick Thoughts
The discounts themselves aren’t necessarily enough to write home about as we often see even better discounts on Uber gift cards from major retailers and/or opportunities to use Amex Offers or Chase Offers at stores that sell Uber Gift Cards.
That said, Greg used US Bank Real-Time Mobile Rewards to redeem points for his Uber Cash load, which means an Uber Cash load would also likely code as travel for the purposes of using travel credits from other cards such as the Chase Sapphire Reserve or Citi Prestige Card. That’s good to know in case you find yourself looking for a way to use up travel credits before they expire.
Keep in mind a couple of caveats here:
1) Be sure to choose Uber Cash as your payment method before requesting a ride
I have been using Uber gift cards for quite a while now and have requested many Uber rides and Uber Eats orders over the past two months. Sometimes, the app seems to default to my Uber Cash — but many other times it does not. You first have to put in your location and destination. Then, on the page where you’ll be tempted to hit “confirm ride”, be sure to check the payment method and switch it to Uber Cash by clicking on the payment method as shown in this pic:
2) You may not be able to use Uber Cash abroad
While the landing page and email say you can use Uber Cash for all Uber rides, I’ve read about people being unable to use Uber Gift Cards or credits from the Amex Platinum card overseas.
On that note, I’m not entirely sure how this will affect using the Amex Platinum credit. The promo landing page suggests that all Uber credits will be lumped into one Uber Cash balance. Will Uber then know to use your expiring Amex Platinum credit first? I’m not sure as I do not have a personal Platinum to test this out. If you have experience loading Uber cash and using the Amex Platinum credit while having an Uber Cash balance, let us know how it worked for you in the comments.
Bottom line
Overall, saving up to 5% on Uber isn’t a screaming deal, but the ability to essentially extend your annual travel credits if you get near the end up the year without using them makes this an interesting thing to keep in mind. Apart from having to remember to choose Uber Cash as a payment method sometimes, the
experience is pretty seamless and easy.
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The one thing which is problematic with Uber Cash, is that there is no report showing you what goes in and what goes out. It is always confusing to know if I used my $30 AmEx Platinum (2 cards).
One thing that work quite nicely is moving payment from one month to the next. If I have multiple trip in one month and none in the next. I will pay some trip with credit card, and in the following month I will change the payment to Uber Cash. This way I can maximize my AmEx allocated money.
[…] $50 in Uber Cash for $38.50, or $100 in Uber cash for $85 after this $10 statement credit. See our previous post for more information on the Uber Cash […]
Trying to use a US Bank FlexPerks Travel Rewards balance. Will this trigger a real time rewards?
I’ve almost stopped using uber (just ubereats now). The quoted price is always a several dollars lower than the final charge even for short fifteen-minute rides. I just make sure to screencap the quote and file a complain later. This happens all the time so it can’t be the drivers’ faults. Also they’re sometimes 50% more expensive than what Lyft quotes before a ride, especially for longer rides.
Can someone spell out the Amex Platinum implication a little more clearly for me?
Bottom line, I’d like to “load” $15 in Uber Cash each month and then every 3 months order a $45 meal to be delivered for free.
From the other comments it sounds like Amex Platinum is auto-loading Uber Cash accounts? (That can’t be right?) or somehow competing against Uber Cash? Would anybody mind just explaining in plain English if this is a way to load the $15 Amex Platinum Credit monthly until you want to use it all?
Thanks in advance.
No dice. The Amex Platinum credit isn’t an Amex Offer where you spend $15 on Uber and get $15 refunded on your statement, it’s handled on Uber’s end so you just get $15 added to your Uber Cash balance that expires at the end of the month.
Should this trigger the occasional AmEx offer, like the $10 off $15 available for some? (Not talking about the Plat credit.)
I would like to know this too.
The Amex credit is added to your uber cash balance on a monthly basis, and since one can only pick a credit card or Uber cash when paying for Uber, the Amex platinum credit requires an Uber cash balance if the fare is over $15, or $30 in December. Real time rewards and Uber cash cannot be used in other countries.
It’s okay to have Uber cash and have the Amex Plat. The Amex Plat credits get used up first. I consistently have a positive Uber balance and always get the $15 (or $35) bump on the 1st, like today. None get expired/taken away at the end of the month.
I have a totally opposite experience. Unexpired Uber credit uses first before Amex credit
What Uber credits are you otherwise using? Mine are mainly redeemed Uber gift cards.
Nick – I can confirm that you can’t use the Uber Amex credit overseas. When I was in Australia in January, it said that the credit was “unavailable for use”. I’m off to the UK later this month so I can confirm that as well for the audience. Thanks
All Uber credits – promo codes, gift cards, Uber Cash, etc. – are tied to the currency they are issued in.
“Your credit amount is displayed in the currency the credit was issued in. Please note, Uber credit cannot be transferred from one currency into another”
https://help.uber.com/riders/article/where-can-i-view-my-credits?nodeId=a6f4507a-47d8-408d-bbc4-fee6398d5453